Busting the IVF myths: What you need to know about ovarian rejuvenation therapy and fertility apps

Sarah Carson and Jenny Ky

The Morning Show

Published: Thursday, 6 February 2020 7:48 am

The future of fertility in 2020

The global fertility services market is expected to double by 2026, becoming a $61 billion industry - but one expert is warning women to be informed consumers. Credit: Getty Images

Once a hushed conversation in doctor’s offices, there’s no denying that fertility used to be a taboo topic.

But recently, Kim Kardashian, Brooke Shields and Mark Zuckerberg have all spoken out about their issues - and celebrity sweethearts John Legend and Chrissy Teigen publicly shared their own struggle to conceive, helping to open up the conversation.

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Just last month, Cameron Diaz announced the birth of daughter Raddix - and actress Chloe Sevigny has just revealed the happy news that she is pregnant at the age of 45.

But fertility expert Dr Devora Lieberman is cautioning older women against unreasonable expectations, based on the success stories of celebrities.

“Ovaries will age, and probably faster than our faces as well - so when it comes to reproduction, 50 is not the new 30,” Lieberman said.

“Rejuvenation - which is making older ovaries young again - are trying to help 50-year-old ovaries act like 20-year-olds.

“There are all sorts of wild and wonderful technologies that have been tried, like taking blood, spinning it down, taking the platelet-rich plasma and injecting it into ovaries, and using stem cells from pelvic bones mixed up with ovarian tissue and transferring it back to a woman.

“None of these things have reliably been shown to work. There is a company in the UK now looking at women in their 20s, suggesting they go through surgery, have slices of their ovaries removed, and frozen for use in the future - and it seems to me like an awful lot to go through for a technology that has yet to prove itself.

“I’m hopeful that ovarian rejuvenation will someday come into its own. We are looking at what artificial intelligence can do for us in terms of picking embryos, and non-invasive ways of testing embryos so that we can get better at selecting which embryos are most likely to make a baby.”

Why you should ditch the apps

Plenty of women are also tracking their fertility via apps on their smartphone - but one Canadian study found one in five tracking apps contain errors, affecting their chances of pregnancy.

“My patients have two or three that they check,” Lieberman said.

“It’s about tracking your cycle and finding out when the best time is to have sex. Some studies have shown that up to half of them are terribly inaccurate and telling people the wrong thing.

“I’m not a huge fan of apps or peeing on sticks or taking your body temperature.

“My best advice is to have sex every second or third day, no matter where you are in your cycle, and you will hit the right time.”

Advice for women in their 30s

“If you are in your 30s and not pregnant after six months, see a specialist or someone who knows what they are talking about,” Lieberman said.

“Be wary of headlines. A lot of people are promoting all sorts of ‘add-ons’ in IVF, which sound great and promising, but in reality, pretty much none of them have been shown to work.

“Women are spending thousands of dollars on additional treatments and alternative therapies, for which there is really no evidence. So be an informed consumer.

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‘It won’t make you more fertile.’

“There are certainly things you can do that can have a negative impact on your fertility, like smoking, being too fat, too thin, or having chemotherapy.

“If you’re reasonably healthy, being healthier won’t make you more fertile. So my best advice is to live as healthily as you can. And if you know you want children in your life, start as soon as it’s realistically possible.”